<John> Carrie has asked me to drive herself and Nathalie Dupree to Atlanta.

<Carrie> Road trip.

<Deborah> Nathalie Dupree is like the queen.

<Employee> How do you know when you're overworking the dough?

<Nathalie Dupree> This is not your sweetheart.

[laughing] <John> One of the worst things about traveling with Carrie.

<Carrie> I have found this little kitchen inside a gas station.

This biscuit is divine.

<Deborah> I love food that has a story to it.

<Employee> Molasses, sugar, love.

<Carrie> I'm in love all over again.

Thank you.

<Carrie> You are a bad ass.

<Carrie> I took my mom's best recipe and started selling handmade Southern biscuits.

Now I'm balancing a family, a business and biscuits every day.

Thank you so much.

I'm Carrie Morey.

And this is how I roll.

♪ [upbeat music] ♪ ♪ <Carrie> We've had some really great team members at Callie's over the years, some stay, some come and go, and it's just fun to watch them grow and evolve.

Bea is one of those people in our life.

<Bea> Thank you very much.

<Carrie> She was a really integral part of helping me start Hot Little Biscuit, and I probably wouldn't have done it without her.

<Bea> I worked for Carrie for eight years.

I met Carrie through Nathalie Dupree.

They're my mentors, both of them.

<Nathalie> Today on Nathalie Dupree Cooks for Family and Friends.

I'll start with sweet Italian sausage and chicken soup, a cold smoked salmon dip, cornish hens stuffed under the skins, and finally a raspberry peach mousse.

What I really am is a teacher, I'm a cooking teacher.

And my shows were about how to cook, just flat out how to cook.

<Carrie> Nathalie Dupree is the queen of biscuits, the OG of biscuits and southern food.

I mean, she's an icon.

<Nathalie> Bea came to me by way of Johnson and Wales.

They called me and said they had a super intern.

She helped with my books and recipes and traveled with me.

She was just wonderful.

We were learning so much together.

<Carrie> Bea's gone on to fulfill her own dreams and has opened her own coffee shop.

So I'm really excited to go visit and see her in her new space.

♪ [upbeat music] ♪ <Bea> Java Java is a coffee shop on John's Island.

We specialize in coffee, a lot of coffee, and we also have a large selection of breakfast sandwiches and lunch sandwiches.

[Bea and Carrie] Oh, look.

There it is.

Here it is.

<Carrie> Nathalie, she only drinks Diet Coke and we got to have regular Diet Coke in the daytime and then caffeine-free Diet Coke in the evening.

<Nathalie> Oh, Bea.

<Bea> Yay!

So great to see both of you!

Nathalie, I have your Diet Coke for you.

<Nathalie> Smart girl!

<Bea> How are you?

<Nathalie> Oh, honeybun!

<Bea> Thank you for coming.

<Nathalie> Oh, I'm so happy to be here.

<Bea> Thanks for being here.

<Nathalie> Oh, gosh.

<Bea> Welcome to Java Java.

<Nathalie> Beautiful.

I'm looking forward to Bea's cooking.

I haven't had her cooking in a while.

<Carrie> Ah, I'm starving.

<Nathalie> Alright.

I thought about that but I want.

<Carrie> - the herb mayo.

Is it crispy bacon?

<Bea> It is.

It's super crispy bacon.

Carrie Morey taught me about the crunchy bacon.

You got to have crunchy bacon.

<Bea> Here we go ladies.

<Nathalie> There you are.

<Carrie> Yum!

<Nathalie> Look at it.

Doesn't it look delicious?

We're going to eat.

<Bea> There's bacon prosciutto for you.

<Nathalie> I cannot wait.

<Bea> I chose the greenery.

<Nathalie> Yes.

Oh how nice.

<Carrie> I'll eat that.

Just kidding.

<Bea> These are all for Carrie.

<Carrie> Oh my gosh, look at that, <Nathalie> Look at that - <Carrie> Chocolate chip cookies.

So how is it?

How is owning your own business?

<Bea> Yeah, I love it.

It's awesome.

It's just, I'm so excited about every day.

And learning from you, you know, I know every day is going to be different no matter what, which is what owning a business is all about.

<Nathalie> It's very exciting to see all this creativity.

The other nice thing about this is that women are training other women.

<Carrie> To come together <Nathalie> To come together.

To network.

To help each other.

<Nathalie> Lift each other up.

I saw that you were selling Callie's biscuits.

<Bea> Oh, absolutely.

Callie's has such a great presence here in Charleston that I just, for me, it would be hard to have a storefront that sells any retail without Callie's on the shelves, <Carrie> Think back to when we were, you know, in the first biscuit book tour, RV driving to Knoxville.

Life was... <Nathalie> That was so much fun.

<Carrie> Simpler.

<Nathalie> Simpler.

<Carrie> We don't have that RV anymore.

We have a much bigger RV, and I'm going to take it to Atlanta next week and maybe do a little biscuit tour.

<Nathalie> I'll go with you.

I haven't gone with you anywhere.

<Carrie> This is the new one.

We'll get John to drive us then we don't have to worry about being distracted drivers.

Road trip.

<Nathalie> Road trip.

<Carrie> Bea, you want to go?

<Bea> I wish I could.

Oh, the laughs we would have on the way to Atlanta.

<Carrie> I need to get a big cooler for Diet Coke.

<Bea> For Diet Coke.

[Nathalie laughs] <Bea> Thank you again, <Nathalie> So excited for you.

<Bea> So exciting.

<Carrie> We'll miss you on the RV tour.

I like it.

We went out to lunch, and we've brought home supper.

<Nathalie> I know!

♪ [upbeat music] ♪ <John> Carrie has asked me to drive herself and Nathalie Dupree to Atlanta in the RV to do something with biscuits.

<Carrie> I try to see my Hot Little Biscuit shops out of town at least once a month and so we're going to go visit Atlanta to see the team there.

Atlanta is approximately five hours from Charleston.

Nobody in their right mind would open up their second location five hours away from their first, but ignorance is bliss and I knew no better, and I thought it was a great idea.

Atlanta Hot Little Biscuit opened in 2014 and we have an amazing General Manager named Michael who really worked his way up.

<Michael> My first job with Callie was making biscuits.

I loved making the biscuits because you'd be surprised to how many people come through every day.

Takes them back to their childhood.

Well, I come from a big family.

And for someone to welcome me into theirs, that feel, the warmth the understanding and everything.

It just feels so good.

These are our classics here, our sausage, egg and cheese, our bacon, egg and cheese, She gave me one of her prized babies.

This is her baby.

She loves her stores.

And to leave me here, and they're four and a half hours away.

That says a lot.

This is more than a job, it's not about the money.

I love the smiles.

Meant more than any job I've ever had in my life.

<Carrie> One of the best things about being an entrepreneur is to see employees realize their dreams within our company, so I love going to visit him.

<John> I actually love to drive Carrie.

Um, I am terrified to be driven by Carrie.

<Carrie> Would you put that in the cooler, please?

John is really good at driving the RV on the highway.

<John> I hate driving in historical areas.

I hate driving in cities.

I hate driving where the trees are low.

Nathalie lives in a very historic district, in Charleston on very tight roads with a lot of trees.

<Carrie> Sometimes getting out of our neighborhood is the hardest part.

[trees scraping RV> ♪ [suspenseful music] ♪ [trees scraping RV> That is amazing!!

You are a bad ass.

Thank you.

♪ [bright music] ♪ ♪ <Carrie> Morning.

<Nathalie> Morning.

<Carrie> Oh look, you look great.

<Nathalie> This is huge.

<Carrie> You can sleep in the back.

<Nathalie> When I moved to Charleston.

She was just one of the first people I met.

We loved food and we loved biscuits.

<Carrie> I have been confiding in her for probably 12 years and I'm excited to drive with her.

<Nathalie> Okay, great.

<Carrie> Yep.

Can I pour you a drink before we go?

<Nathalie> Absolutely.

<Carrie> Ok, good.

Do you like the ice filled to the top?

<Nathalie> No.

My gosh, what a specialty thing, waiting on me.

<Carrie> I love waiting on you.

<Nathalie> Yeah.

<John> The princess of biscuits serving the queen of biscuits.

<Carrie and Nathalie> Oh!

Oh!

<Nathalie> We're going to Atlanta, <Carrie> We're going to Atlanta.

♪ [upbeat music] ♪ <John> Driving Carrie and Nathalie to Atlanta, <Carrie> Dill pickles in chicken salad with a little.

<Nathalie> - that's just - <Carrie> I want you to try it.. <John> Nathalie and Carrie just talked the whole time.

And I did not.

<Nathalie> That's just pitiful.

<Carrie> Ah!

Look at you.

<John> So it was really nice.

♪ [upbeat music] ♪ One of the worst things about traveling with Carrie is her infatuation of finding some obscure place that she has heard through the grapevine that is supposed to be the most amazing whatever, whatever, whatever.

<Carrie> So, I've been doing research online about the best hole-in-the-wall biscuit places on the way to Atlanta.

<John> As one who's trying to get to the destination that day, it can be very frustrating to drive 40 miles outside of your path to go find the food.

I would say, however, 70% of the time it's worth it.

<Carrie> I have found this woman, Felicia, who makes biscuits and she has a little kitchen inside a gas station in Monroe, Georgia.

♪ [bluegrass music] ♪ <Darshan Patel> Felicia is the biscuit queen.

She's very good at her trade.

She is master of her trade.

<Carrie> Look at this.

<Felicia> Well, hello.

How are you?

<Carrie> Felicia?

<Felicia> I am.

<Carrie> Can we come in?

<Felicia> Yeah.

Come on back.

<Carrie> So, tell me what's in your biscuit recipe.

<Felicia> Well, it's flour, some butter and buttermilk.

<Carrie> Yum.

You just do it all by hand.

Look at that.

<Nathalie> She's got the real roll, too.

<Carrie> So how many of these do you make a day?

Do you know?

<Felicia> About 425 maybe?

I'm not sure.

<Carrie> A day.

And so, six days a week.

<Felicia> Yes ma'am.

<Nathalie> That's 3000 a week.

<Carrie> Wow.

That's impressive.

<Darshan Patel> I eat sausage, egg and cheese just about every day.

<Carrie> Alright Felicia, so who taught you how to make these biscuits.

<Felicia> I just really had taught myself.

<Carrie> That's amazing.

<Felicia> I had to make a living.

<Carrie> Yeah.

Do what you do.

<Felicia> That's right.

<Carrie> Wow.

I was worried when she was pressing them down.

I didn't know they were going to rise like that.

<Nathalie> Look at the rise on that biscuit.

She had a very different biscuit cause she flattened her biscuit so that it would be wide.

<Carrie> And are you frying chicken over here?

<Felicia> Yes ma'am.

<Carrie> Yum!

♪ [upbeat music] ♪ This biscuit is divine, as is the chicken.

<Carrie> I think we might need to spend the night just so we can have a few meals.

<Nathalie> Can we just sleep on the floor here?

<John> No.

[Carrie laughs] <Nathalie> She just knocks it out, so warm and so welcoming.

You know, food people are good people.

♪ [upbeat music] ♪ <Carrie> There's just something about Southern food that people are so drawn to, you know, like looking out on these back country roads and you see the cotton here and the sunflowers and the corn here.

What do you think it is about Southern food that people are so... <Nathalie> I think it just tastes better.

Home cooking.

<Carrie> Home cooking.

<Nathalie> Yeah.

<Carrie> I kind of agree.

<Nathalie> Southern cooking is really the basic home cooking of America because people moved from here, west, and took southern cooking with them.

<Carrie> That was my favorite thing about Felicia is just seeing, I mean, she has recreated her home kitchen and made it for the masses.

I'm excited for you to meet my Atlanta crew.

They are really good people.

<Michael> What can I do for you today?

<Customer> Can you do the chicken?

<Michael> Yeah.

<Carrie> Because I'm not there every day I worry about not inspiring them.

That's the whole point of this today is to try to get them inspired to, oh my gosh, it's so much more than a biscuit.

<Nathalie> So, who are we seeing in Atlanta?

<Carrie> I found this amazing chef.

Her name is Deborah VanTrece.

<Deborah> Order coming in.

Fried chicken omelette and a chicken and waffle.

<Carrie> She has a restaurant called Twisted Soul.

She's the queen of soul food.

<Deborah> I wanted a restaurant that showcased the food that I grew up with in a way that elevated it.

I was a only child and after school, I'd go to grandma's house, and one of my favorite treats was grandma making biscuits.

And for me it's just, it's like a memory that's a part of, of heaven.

It is absolutely delicious.

So, it was a no-brainer that biscuits had to be on my menu.

<Robert> We pride ourselves in our biscuits.

Today, our biscuit of choice is actually our sweet potato, cinnamon brown sugar biscuits.

It's topped with a nice honey butter, is glazed beautifully.

It comes out tasting amazing.

<Deborah> If you want a biscuit around here, all you have to do is walk through the door and smile.

When Carrie called me up, I was absolutely ecstatic.

You know.

I'm a big fan of Little Callie's biscuits.

Nathalie Dupree is like the queen herself.

So, you know, the combination of the two, it was just excitement.

<Carrie and Deborah> Hi!

Deborah Hi everybody!

<Carrie> I want to hug you!

<Deborah> I know, right?

<Carrie> Good to see you!

Thank you so much for having us.

<Deborah> Well, thank you for coming.

<Carrie> So tell us about Twisted Soul.

<Deborah> Well, we specialize in globally inspired soul food.

So, there's a wide range of things that's on the menu.

I love food that has a story to it, - <Carrie> Uh huh.

<Deborah> that evokes memories, you know that makes you feel safe and at home and comforts you.

<Carrie> Totally.

<Deborah> So, that's kind of the story we're telling here.

Biscuits come automatically.

You don't have to ask for it.

You don't have to pay extra.

It's an automatic thing with every meal we put out, you get biscuits.

<Carrie> That is how every restaurant should be.

<Customer> I can't even talk, it's so good.

<Carrie> I have a little biscuit shop down the road and I would love for you to come with Nathalie and I over there to give my employees like a little bit of taste of your biscuits and show them the history of your biscuits with your grandmother.

<Deborah> That would be absolutely amazing.

<Carrie> Yay, I cannot wait.

<Deborah> There's a huge smile under the mask.

<Carrie> I can see it in your eyes.

I can see it in your eyes.

<Carrie> Our Atlanta eatery is in Virginia Highland which is this super cool, tree lined old neighborhood in the heart of Atlanta.

<Employee> Order ready for Steven.

♪ [bluegrass music] ♪ <Customer> I come here a lot.

<Producer> Been a busy day?

<Michael> A bit moderate.

With my team here it don't seem very difficult.

<Employee> Order ready ♪ [bluegrass music] ♪ <Carrie> Hey y'all.

<Group> Hi.

<Carrie> My biscuit friends are here to tell you about the ways that they make biscuits and the traditions that they have in their families that have been passed down.

There's so many ways to make a biscuit.

Everybody has their own story.

And that it's not so much about the measurement and the exact science of it, but it's really about the love and the comfort that biscuits provide.

We're going to let Nathalie go first she is the queen.

And - <Nathalie> Cause I'm the oldest.

[collective laughter] <Nathalie> Normally, a biscuit maker doesn't measure their flour, they just fill this with flour.

And then you just use what you need.

♪ [calming bluegrass music] ♪ <Carrie> Where's the fat?

And the heavy cream?

Very efficient.

<Nathalie> You fold it up, just do the best you can.

♪ Straight down, no twisting.

<Carrie> No twisting.

We subscribe to that method too, here.

<Nathalie> Twisting is the devil.

<Employee> What does it do?

<Nathalie> It changes the outside of the biscuit so that it doesn't rise as much.

Now, how long you're going to cook your biscuit depends on how thick you made it.

Because all cooking is done to the thickness.

If you put Carrie and me in the oven at the same time, I would take longer.

[collective laughter] So, you just have to remember, it's the thickness that matters.

<Employee> How do you know when you're overworking the dough?

<Nathalie> Well, you touch it as little as possible.

This is not your sweetheart.

[collective laughter] Try to keep your hands off of it.

<Carrie> For y'all, I don't think you realize how special this place is to our customers.

Because they're coming in, in search of that memory that most likely was not written down.

They can't recreate it.

To serve them and bring back that memory is, it's a gift.

So, it's super important.

<Deborah> The biscuits Nathalie did were the biscuits that I would expect from a Grande Dame such as Nathalie Dupree.

<Michael> I never seen anyone just making with just so simple ingredients.

And they actually came out fluffy, they rolled just right, and the taste was immaculate.

<Deborah> So, I'm from the Midwest originally.

You know, so our biscuits are a little bit different.

I come from humble beginnings.

Yeah, we ate biscuits with Brer Rabbit syrup and butter.

Brer Rabbit syrup, it was inexpensive.

And that was what was on the shelf so that's what we bought, when I was young.

All purpose flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, all of the above.

Butter.

The butter is chilled and cut into little pieces.

And that way when I start putting the heat from my hands on it, it still stays a little bit cold.

Buttermilk.

And then I've got some molasses.

You know, I think sugar might have been too expensive for my Grams, I'm not sure.

♪ [calming bluegrass music] ♪ All right, I'll put a little flour on my surface.

♪ [bluegrass music continues] ♪ So, I do constantly fold the dough so I can build up the layers.

You can see the butter.

<Carrie> I see it.

<Deborah> All through it.

<Carrie> That is so cool.

<Nathalie> Amazing.

♪ [calming bluegrass music] ♪ You know she loves making her biscuits just like Carrie and I do.

There's something about people that like to get their hands in flour.

[laughs] ♪ [calming bluegrass music] ♪ <Carrie> These look amazing.

Are they ready?

<Deborah> Whew!

I think so.

<Carrie> Look at the layers and how high!

<Deborah> Look good!

<Carrie> Y'all ready to taste?

<Employees> Yeah!

<Nathalie> Yes.

<Deborah> That butter and that syrup that was mixed up together.

That was my grandmother's way.

Anytime I taste it, it definitely reminds me of my home and my grandma.

You know, and all those things that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

<Michael> She looks like she knows what she's doing.

They were great.

<Employee> I love that sweet butter that's on the top.

<Employee> Butter, molasses, sugar, love, care, family history.

♪ <Carrie Wiggins> The more I know about biscuits, the more I could be able to cook them on my own something that I could start a tradition at my house with my daughter.

<Carrie> Nathalie's biscuits are super simple yet decadent.

Deborah's biscuits have an incredible story.

And the secret is the molasses.

It just took it over the top, that and the layers, amazing.

<Deborah> And it was just cool to just know we all had different stories.

You know, we all had different memories about a biscuit and we were there collectively sharing that together.

<Carrie> Just when I think I know a little bit about biscuits, something like this comes along and I'm like, I'm just, I'm in love all over again.

Thank you.

[collective applause] ♪ [bluegrass music riffs to ending] ♪ ♪